The Call of the Mountains by Max Landsberg

Inspirations from a Journey of a Thousand Miles Across Scotland's Peaks

This is a wonderful book that should be read, and will then probably
be re-read, by just about anyone with any interest in Scotland's mountains. At
one level "The Call of the Mountains" by Max Landsberg is a "how I compleated
my round of Munros" book, albeit a particularly well written one. But there is
so much more here too. Max Landsberg loves the Scottish mountains in a way that
suffuses this book from cover to cover. The sections on the various trips he
undertook on the hills, whether alone or in company, are nicely interspersed
with the sorts of thoughts that inevitably occur to those simply engaged in
putting one foot in front of the other, repeatedly. So we have a section on
whether a circular walk should be completed clockwise or anticlockwise; another
on the ideal angle to zig-zag uphill; and others on geology, mountain safety,
the clearances, on the many Gaelic words for "mountain"... and so on.

We are even given a nice diagnostic test to allow you to tell when
you are truly hooked on Munros. It is when you park your car in Glencoe and
find you have left your boots, jacket and maps at home in London, so make the
return drive home and back again to fetch them.

You don't have to go back very far in history to find a time when
people regarded mountains as fearsome places, to be avoided, or a little later
as sublime places, to be painted and to be marvelled at for their landscape
qualities. In more modern times the ever broader paths leading to the summits
of too many Scottish hills reveal that mountains, in this country at least, are
a preferred form of recreation for many residents and visitors. A chance to
combine fresh air, physical exertion, mental challenge and a degree of physical
risk. And there is no shortage of books catering for those wanting a day on the
hills, whether as guides to walks in a particular area or routes up all of
Scotland's Munros.

These books perform a great service and many are extremely good and
justifiably popular. But it's difficult not to regret the passing of a slightly
different type of mountain book, the sort of book that serves to uplift the
spirit as well as the mind. Books by writers such as Alastair Borthwick and,
especially, W.H. Murray turned
mountains into an almost religious experience for many. In truth, that strand
of mountain writing, though it may have been in retreat, has never entirely
disappeared, and it is wonderful to be able to report that this book picks up
that particular baton beautifully.